DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman Bowling opened the 2016-17 season with one win against four losses on Friday, opening up the first of three days of action at the Boardwalk Bowl as part of the 2016 Wildcat Invitational hosted by Bethune-Cookman in Orlando, Florida.

Bethune-Cookman (1-4) competed on the day in 5x4 Baker games, welcoming a total of 13 teams to Central Florida for this year’s annual event.

The Wildcats began the day with an 865-841 defeat of No. 18 Tulane. That marked the first ranked opponent B-CU has beaten in Baker play since taking down Monmouth a season ago on the final day of the Music City Classic in Smyrna, Tennessee.

B-CU suffered a tough 1,023-899 setback in its next match to 11th-ranked Maryland Eastern Shore, also a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

In the third game of the day, it was No. 22 Prairie View A&M taking an 854-761 decision from the Maroon and Gold, before top-ranked and defending national champion Nebraska claimed a 923-838 victory from the host Wildcats.

Bethune-Cookman fell to No. 2 Stephen F. Austin by a count of 963-887 in its final game of the day.

In this year’s event, a total of 10 teams in the 2016-17 National Tenpin Coaches Association Preseason Top 25 poll are present and competing at Boardwalk Bowl. That includes six (6) of the nation’s top 10 ranked schools.

This year’s field includes the host Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman, joined by top-ranked No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Stephen F. Austin, No. 3 Arkansas State, No. 6 Sam Houston State, No. 8 North Carolina A&T State, No. 10 Fairleigh Dickinson, No. 11 Maryland Eastern Shore, No. 16 Monmouth, No. 18 Tulane and No. 22 Prairie View A&M. Also in the mix will be Alabama A&M, Alabama State and Florida A&M.

The Sixth Annual Wildcat Invitational continues Saturday at 10 a.m. The teams will square off with five traditional games in Saturday’s action.

In the five-person team game, starting members of the competing teams will successively and, in regular order, bowl one frame on one lane. Once completed, the team members shall move to the alternate lane of the competition pair. This pattern of play continues until all 10 frames of a game are complete. The same substitution rules as Baker will apply.

The invitational concludes Sunday with a tournament beginning at 9:30 a.m. The tournament, consisting of Best 4-of-7 Baker matches, will determine the champion. The five teams will be seeded based on the performance on Friday and Saturday.